RPM's and Brightening/dimming of Lights! By smokindawg (Read 6,280 times)

[smokindawg]

As you know, many have charging issues. I too have them.

When the factory lights are on with my 250 viva they dim and brighten accordingly with the RPM's. I wonder if this is usual, or something that is unique to my charging problems. If unique, I could have a problem with a weak hot wire or something similar.

I need to get this thing up and charging correctly before the warm weather is over and I would like to be riding my scooter, rather than working on it. (I'm sure many of you know my pain.)

I have got a few short rides in, but afraid to venture very far from home at this point.

Any and all help and advice is appreciated.

[gatekeeper]

I think most scooters headlights dim somewhat at idle, I know mine does. I think that is the nature of their charging systems. The engine needs to be at or above a certain rpm for full charging output and that is normally above idle speed.

I see from your other post that you checked all of your wiring connections. I would next make sure all ground points are in firm contact with bare metal. Weak grounds cause resistance to the flow electricity and could have a negative impact on your charging rate.

Short rides also can drain the battery over time as even a properly charging scooter doesn't recharge the battery as fast as automotive alternators. So with each start up you are taking more out than the short ride is putting back in.

[bobf]

And what do you consider a short ride? How long should a person ride to enable a full charge.
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[gatekeeper]

I think if all one is doing is making quick 5 to 10 minute trips to the corner market and such, what with idling at stoplights along the way, you are not going to get a full recharge. If you have a good battery and your scooter starts quickly you probably won't notice it as longer rides tend to find their way into the mix. If you have a hard starting scooter and/or your battery is past it's prime and draws down quickly, these short trips add up. One day you walk out of the store with that half gallon of ice cream and your starter doesn't spin.

If everything is in good shape, in my opinion, I think 20 to 30 minutes of solid riding (no idling) will bring the battery back up to a full recharge.

[smokindawg]

Well, I found one problem with my scooter. I'm not getting enough voltage to the red wire on my R/R. I hooked a jumper up to it and now when I turn the key on, the headlights come on and are bright. It actually then charges some too........ But still not enough. I'm showing about 12.5-12.7 with the fan and the lights on. If I unhook the headlights I get the charge up too 13.7. So I'm heading in the right direction with both my headlights and charging problem.

The wiring on these things is crazily inadequate. There are way too many hots and grounds wired together and then attached to a single wire that is too small. I've been separating some of the grounds and then re-grounding them to the frame. This is working well and also eliminating a few wires in the harness. Next I'll work on the hot wires.

[Cruiser]

Glad to see that you're making some headway, smokindawg. Have you checked the voltage when the fan turns on? Have you upgraded any of your lights to LEDs?

[smokindawg]

Cruiser, if the headlights are unhooked, I'm still showing about 13.4 when the fan is running and the RPM's are up. With the headlights and fan on, I'm running 12.5-12.6 volts.

I haven't replaced any of the lights with LED's yet. Still looking for the best place to get them as I'm trying to get this thing going on the cheap. I've also looked into HID lights, but that can wait I'm sure.

I'm going to install a relay in place of the blocking diode next and that may help with the low voltage to the R/R hot wire as well as give me a bit more on the charging.

I'm next thinking about installing a fuse block so that I can separate some of the many hot wires that are fastened together. This may also help with the charging and the warm to touch wires on the R/R.

I'll keep you all informed as I make progress.

[Cruiser]

Replacing the blocking diode with a relay should be good for about .6 to .7 volts additional charge. Another small point is that the red wire on the R/R is the output of the R/R.

[smokindawg]

Jun 26, 2011 22:17:21 GMT -6 Cruiser said:

Another small point is that the red wire on the R/R is the output of the R/R.

Hmmmmmm. The white wire from the R/R is the one that seems too show the charge when the scooter is running. I may be all wet with my attempts to get the scooter to charge. Could be that the Blocking Diode is bad too, as the wire runs from the red wire on the R/R goes to the Blocking diode as well as a couple other items on the rear of the scooter.

I did however check the R/R according to this www.thegsresources.com/garage/gs_statorfault.htm and it showed as bad connection from hot wire. It was in the guidelines when I jumped the red wire with a good hot, and that's when the charging actually showed as working.

[Cruiser]

It sounds like you are talking about a white wire which is connected to the red wire of the R/R? That would still be the output of the R/R.

If the blocking diode is bad, the headlights would be on all the time (shorted) or there would be no charging voltage at the battery when the engine is running and the battery would die (open).

[smokindawg]

Jun 27, 2011 1:06:09 GMT -6 Cruiser said:

It sounds like you are talking about a white wire which is connected to the red wire of the R/R? That would still be the output of the R/R.

Cruiser, the R/R has a Red, White and black. As it sits, the Red wire is putting out only 6-7 volts, the White wire is putting out as much as 13.6 volts. The black is a ground.

The Red wire from the R/R attaches to a smaller dark green wire that then runs to the Blocking Diode as well as several other items in the system.

I installed a jumper between the white and the red wire and the headlights then came on with the key and were solid bright. I then show the battery as charging, some. I also found that even with the Blocking Diode unplugged, the lights will come on when the engine is running.

I picked up the Relay this morning and will be installing it to see what I come up with and then go from there.

[yoster]

The reason the jumper caused them to come on bright is because you've essentially made the diode act as a relay. Replacing the diode with a relay will give you a few extra watts, as well as remove the 'dimming' effect of the headlights because they will then be running off the battery (which kind of acts like a big capacitor).

Do a search fro Damin's thread.. ultimately if you want to kick the charging issues with this scooter completely, you'll want to switch everything to LED, replace the blocking diode with a relay, upgrade your RR to a non-chinese version (like one from OMP), and ideally, put one of the 2 headlights on a switch.

[smokindawg]

Yep, installed the relay today and the lights are working on bright now. The battery is charging but not enough.

I have three of the big bulbs in the tail/brake light, so removed two of those. Now with the headlights off, I can get 13.8 volts. The fan brings it down to 13.6 and when the lights are on, it goes down to 12.5.

So now, It's time for LED's and a switch to turn off one of the headlights..

[yoster]

If you have the honda clone 244cc engine, check out this link:
scooterdoc.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=techtips&action=display&thread=4285